Nova Medical Centre, a day care surgical centre has successfully carried
out a spine surgery adopting the fenestration discectomy procedure
which enables the patient to walk in four hours as against three to four
days in conventional surgery. According to Novo the effort probably
could be the first day care spine surgery in the country with the
surgery costing Rs.50,000 to the patient.

The
time taken for this surgery was 45 minutes which is usually estimated
to take two hours for a similar procedure . “We have not used any
special technology to perform this surgery. The surgery was done through
a mini incision of one and half inches,” stated Dr Gautam Kodikal,
consultant arthroscopic surgeon, specialist in shoulder surgeries, Nova
Medical Centres.

A 38 year old woman with large extruded disc
was operated for at L5-S1 level. Prior to the surgery, the patient
suffered severe pain in the left lower limb and some weakness in this
limb due to the pressure on her nerves in the spinal region. The patient
was able to walk one hour after surgery and left the centre in the
evening itself.


Day care surgery is economical for the
patients, Nova charge 15-30 per cent less than the package rates
compared to full scale corporate hospitals. Also, overnight room costs
and associated overheads are eliminated, with less waiting time and
minimal post operative infections. More importantly patients return to
home on the same day and return to work faster.

Usually all
surgeries done in a day care facility allowed the patient to recover
faster. In this case the patient was discharged on the same day she was
operated and was on her feet to work, added Dr Kodikal.

Nova
Medical Centre was established in Bangalore in May 2009 and has carried
out over 200 day care surgeries a month. The second centre in Bangalore
was started in June 2010. In October, it opened a facility at Delhi on
the premises of the erstwhile Sharma Nursing Home. Earlier this year
Nova announced a joint venture with Max Healthcare where the latter
holds a 31 per cent stake and is looking to tap the NCR region.

The
medical centre also acquired the Jeewan Mala Hospitals Delhi, one of
the oldest in the country and the facility will be upgraded according to
Nova's standards. Each Nova costs over Rs.10
crore to build and supports 700 procedures a month. Some of the
surgical interventions carried out here include ENT, general surgery,
gynaecology, ophthalmology, orthopaedic, paediatric, plastic and
cosmetic, radiology and urology. Its expansion plans are to have 25
centres across India by December 2012 of which five centres are to be in
Mumbai. Efforts are also on to expand its presence in Delhi with an
additional five centres by 2012.